This crave-worthy made-from-scratch pumpkin spice syrup recipe is the result of extensive taste tests in the PMIE kitchen to find you the very best syrup for your pumpkin spice lattes this year! The result is a fresh-tasting syrup with a mellow sweetness and caramel-like undertones, a balanced homemade spice blend, and enough pumpkin to make your drinks taste like a homemade pumpkin pie!

Read more to learn about what we tested and how we decided on our recipe.

Homemade pumpkin spice syrup in a glass bottle.

Pumpkin spice syrup is one of those things where any combination of similar ingredients in a reasonable ratio will get you a passable result. I wasn’t looking for passable, though. I wanted to create the single BEST pumpkin spice syrup recipe out there, and that involved extensive testing.

I don’t play around when it comes to my fancy coffees. That’s why I spent a full week testing probably a dozen spice blends, four different sugar combinations, and varied amounts of pumpkin puree. I brought in an outside taste tester who is an avid PSL fan, held a blind taste test, and even brought in an actual Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte as a control.

The result? This winning pumpkin spice syrup, which takes under ten minutes to make, tastes like a homemade pumpkin pie, and beat out Starbucks in our taste test.

Use it to make a classic pumpkin spice latte or the newer pumpkin cream cold brew.

Why you’ll love this recipe

Extensively tested: So you get the BEST recipe for pumpkin spice syrup!
Super quick: You can make it in under 10 minutes.
Amazing: It tastes better than Starbucks.
Homemade flavor: Uses real ingredients for a fresh, crave-worthy, and unprocessed flavor.
No weird aftertastes: No artificial, sugary-sweet, or bitter aftertaste.
Saves you the big bucks: Guaranteed to save you dollas at the coffee shop this fall!

Ladies and gents, I think we did it. Here’s how.

Not interested in the testing process? Skip to the ingredients.

What we tested

After checking out some of the top recipes on Google, there were three main components of a pumpkin spice syrup recipe that could vary:

The spice blend used: Some recipes called for a store-bought pumpkin spice blend while others used homemade blends, each slightly different. Quantity-wise, most recipes used about a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice to infuse into one cup of water.
The type of sugars used: For a basic simple syrup recipe, the ratio of sugar to water is 1:1, and almost all the recipes followed this ratio. However, the balance between white sugar and brown sugar varied, and one recipe called for a mix of dark brown sugar and maple syrup.
The amount of pumpkin puree in the syrup: This ranged anywhere from 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree to half a cup for one cup of water.

I decided to test each of these elements separately to find you the best recipe for pumpkin spice sauce!

How we tested

The spices

For starters, my husband and I blind taste tested at least ten different combinations of spices, sprinkled with sugar on buttered toast, to find our ideal homemade pumpkin pie spice blend.

Tiny bowls of various pumpkin pie spice blends lined up with note paper for taste testing.

Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves were in every blend, with some containing allspice or even cardamom. We also compared with two different store-bought pumpkin pie spice blends, which were balanced but unexciting.

Spices to make homemade pumpkin pie spice.

The sugars

I made four versions of pumpkin spice syrup using our winning spice blend; all white sugar, all brown sugar, half white and half brown, and half brown and half maple. I also made a version with storebought pie spice and got a Starbucks PSL as a control.

Now, I like pumpkin spice lattes but I’m not typically a diehard PSL groupie (I usually go more for the nutty drinks like the pecan cream cold brew), so I put out a call for taste testers who really love their pumpkin spice. I ended up with the sister of a friend coming over who was a fantastic and thorough taste tester.

Tiny cups of pumpkin spice latte samples for taste testing syrup.

We ended up determining not only the best sugar combinations (either all brown, or surprisingly, half brown half maple) but that our winning spice blend became too clovey once heated. We adjusted the spice blend once more and made a new batch.

The amount of pumpkin

Each syrup I made for the sugar test contained an equal, moderate amount of pumpkin puree. Our taste tester felt like she wanted more pumpkin flavor to come through, so in our new batch we increased the amount.

With the adjustments to the pumpkin and the spice blend, our homemade pumpkin spice syrup now beat out the Starbucks PSL control as the favorite.

Canned pumpkin puree, maple syrup, brown sugar, and spices.

Ingredients

After our taste tests, here are the ingredients we landed on for our homemade pumpkin spice syrup recipe.

Spices: A simple spice blend of 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger, nutmeg, and allspice, and a small 1/4 teaspoon of cloves, which gave just enough clove flavor without overwhelming the cinnamon or leaving a bitter aftertaste.
Brown sugar and real maple syrup: This one surprised me. The caramel-like undertones of brown sugar and maple syrup create a balanced, subtle sweetness and warming flavor for the syrup. White sugar gave our syrup too much of a cloying sweetness and an artificial aftertaste. Surprisingly, the inclusion of maple syrup did not make our coffee taste like a maple latte, but instead added some pleasant undertones. A brown sugar only blend was a close second, for readers who would rather not add maple into the blend.
Water: We use approximately equal parts water and sugars.
Pumpkin puree: A higher than average amount made our syrup taste like a homemade pumpkin pie in a cup.

Friends, I have to tell you. With help from my taste tester, I made a homemade PSL syrup that makes even me crave a pumpkin cream cold brew. Truly, this is a pumpkin spice syrup recipe that any independent coffee shop would be proud to use.

How to Make Pumpkin Spice Syrup

In a small saucepan, dissolve the sugars in the water (image 1).
Add in the spices and pumpkin puree (image 2). Simmer for 3-4 minutes to infuse the flavors.
Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks (image 3). Stir the syrup before adding into your favorite coffee drink!

Step by step collage showing ingredients in a saucepan and syrup pouring through a funnel.

How to Make a Single Serving of Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Maybe you don’t want to commit to a whole bottle yet, and that’s okay! I also tested how to make a single serving of pumpkin spice syrup so you can just make one latte or a pumpkin cream cold brew. (But believe me, you’ll probably want to make a whole batch after tasting it!)

Just use the reduced single serving ingredient quantities listed in the recipe card. Mix them together thoroughly in a small microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Don’t skip the heating or the pumpkin puree will taste raw and weird!

Then use in your beverage as written! The reduced recipe makes about 1 1/2 tablespoons of syrup.

Storage

I’d actually recommend one of those swing-top bottles to store this pumpkin spice sauce so you can shake it without spilling. Plus, it takes a little while to pour out of this cute little pour spout bottle because it’s a little thick and gloppy from the pumpkin purée.

Store your syrup refrigerated for up to two weeks, or freeze some for later if you don’t think you’ll use it all in that time.

Due to the sugar content, frozen syrup has a scoopable texture like a sorbet, so you can freeze it in a single container rather than in an ice cube tray.

Pumpkin spice sauce in a glass pour bottle with fall decorations.

Tips & Tricks

Straining is optional: I originally strained the syrup through a fine mesh sieve, but it seemed that it wasn’t actually catching anything except the pumpkin puree, which I wanted in there. Unless you feel like your puree is lumpy or spices are grainy, I feel like this step is unnecessary. You can strain it to make it extra smooth if you want; just be aware you may be spending extra time to strain out half of your pumpkin.
Use more than you think: Because of the volume of pumpkin purée in the recipe, you’ll need more syrup to get an equal amount of sweetness in your drinks. I use 1 1/2 tablespoons where you would normally use one tablespoon of other flavored syrup.
Store in a bottle you can shake. That’s right. Don’t use the bottle in my photo because you’ll need to be able to shake it up each time you use it.

Uses for Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Make a homemade pumpkin spice latte that’s better than Starbucks.
Use in sweet cream cold foam instead of (or in addition to) vanilla syrup for a pumpkin cream cold brew coffee.
Add to a chai latte for a seasonal twist.
Use as a sweetener to make a flavored whipped cream.
Use as a topping for pancakes or brioche French toast.
Drizzle over vanilla ice cream.
Add to your oatmeal instead of cinnamon and sugar.

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Pumpkin Spice Syrup Recipe

Why you’ll love this recipe

What we tested